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Question
How does a fusion plant actually make electricity?
Most fusion concepts boil water for a steam turbine. Kronos captures charged-particle energy directly as electricity, skipping the steam cycle entirely.
How a fusion plant turns reactions into electricity is not a detail — it shapes the whole machine. The conventional route (neutrons → heat → steam → turbine) is why most fusion concepts look like thermal power stations. Kronos's direct-energy-conversion route makes MetroVolt a different, thermally-light, DC-native plant.
That choice and the low-neutron fuel are one decision: charged particles are what a direct converter can capture.
Questions & answers
How does fusion energy become electricity?
In most fusion concepts, fusion neutrons heat a blanket, that heat boils water, and the steam drives a turbine — the same back end as a coal or fission plant. Kronos does it differently: because its fuel produces mostly charged particles, it captures their energy directly as electricity, with no steam cycle.
Why is direct conversion better?
It skips the Carnot efficiency ceiling of any heat engine, needs no large turbine hall, and produces a DC-native output that suits modern loads. It only works on charged particles, which is exactly why Kronos pairs it with a low-neutron fuel.
What does the plant look like as a result?
Thermally lighter than a steam-cycle plant — smaller balance of plant, less cooling water, and a DC output. It is a genuinely different plant architecture, not fusion bolted onto a conventional turbine hall.